We Are One
by tin2lo
Summary: After meeting Toph and getting the remaining poison out of her body, Korra's not ready to go back to Republic City yet. Instead, she listens as the swamp helps her to get back in touch with Raava, her avatar spirit, and her connection to her past lives by opening her chakras and cleansing the energy within her.


**AN: I've been on kind of an Avatar high especially with it being Zutara month. I love Legend of Korra but one thing that still bothers me to this day was the loss of her connection to her past lives. So that was the inspiration behind this fic. It's also heavily influenced by Disney's The Lion King. The italics at the beginning and end are from the song "We Are One" from Lion King 2: Simba's Pride.**

 **Korra has already met Toph and has extracted the residual poison from her body. But she hasn't left yet and Jinora, Ikki, and Meelo haven't found her yet either.**

 **Disclaimer: Bryke and Nickelodeon own Avatar: Legend of Korra and everything affiliated with it. Disney owns The Lion King of which I took inspiration from.**

 _Even those who are gone are with us as we go on_  
 _Your journey has only begun_

"Wait! Wait, stop. Please!" Korra ran fast through the swamp as she tried chasing after the ragged looking man. The man would stop long enough for her to catch up but as soon as she was close enough, would dart away again. She tried increasing her speed by air or waterbending but somehow that mysterious man was always out of reach.

The thing was, Korra didn't even know who this man was or why she was chasing him. All she knew was that he was familiar and that she needed to know why. Korra was so caught up in chasing him that she didn't even notice the unusually large tree root until she tripped over it and fell into the adjacent pond. She groaned as she picked herself back up. Despite getting the poison out of her body with the support of Toph, she was still pretty weak.

As she got up, Korra noticed something in the ripples of the water. It looked like an image…a hazy image…it was a face…it took her bit but she realized that it wasn't her reflection in the pool of water it was "Wan…" She whispered it mostly to herself. Korra had lost contact with her past lives after Vaatu ripped Raava out of her. This couldn't be right.

Korra looked up from the water to see the man she was chasing standing right in front of her. If she wasn't shocked before, she definitely was now. "This can't be…Wan?" Wan smiled at her as he pulled his red hood down to reveal the rest of his face. Korra quickly stood up to make sure this was real and it wasn't just a vision. Although he didn't disappear, the first avatar still hadn't said anything which told Korra something was off. She was too afraid to reach out to him, fearing he might disappear. "I thought I lost my connection. Are we in the spirit world?"

Wan shook his head. "The swamp is a mystical place. It'll teach you what you need to learn if you're open to listening." Korra tried shaking her head to rid herself of this illusion. Not that Avatar Wan was an unwelcome illusion, but hallucinating in the middle of the swamp would do her no good. But he was still there. "In the swamp we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved, people we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected."

"So this is still an illusion. You're not actually one of my past lives."

In the blink of an eye, he was no longer Wan, but Aang. "No. This is just a culmination of your memories. You've lived a thousand lifetimes and have met millions of people. Yet along the way you've forgotten who you are and in turn the lives you have lived."

In another blink, he changed again. To her surprise, it wasn't even to the image of one of her past lives but it was herself. "You're the avatar. You're meant to keep balance in the world and yet you can't even keep balance within yourself. You can't bring back your connection to your past lives without first knowing who you are and cleaning the energy within yourself."

Korra felt a tear slide down her face knowing that this was the truth. "I feel so lost. I feel so alone. What should I do?"

"You need to master the Avatar State to gain back the balance within yourself."

Korra was confused. "But I got rid of the rest of the poison from my body. I'm connected to Raava again."

The illusion changed back to Wan. "Then why are you not connected to your past lives? Why are you blocked from the spirit world? Why are you so disconnected? You say you found Raava, so where is she?"

She hung her head in shame.

"You need to clean the energy of which flows through your body. Let it flow down the creek…"

"Let it flow down the creek…" Korra's eyes widened. "Wait, I remember that! Where have I heard it before?"

"When you were Avatar Aang…" The swamp illusion changed to Aang once more. "…you met with a guru who taught you to open your chakras, clear the body of negative energy, and to embrace yourself and the power you hold."

"Is that what I need to do?" Korra was frantic now. "I need to open my chakras. Can you help me?" The vision turned around and ran away again. "Hey wait!" Korra made quick work of following it.

She jumped down the ditch that she saw her vision jump into and nearly tripped over herself as she saw it once more. This time the illusion of her memories was sitting cross legged in the center of the large ditch as Avatar Kyoshi. Korra wordlessly approached and sat across from Kyoshi in a mimicking meditative position. "First you must open the Earth chakra, located at the base of the spine. It deals with survival and is blocked by fear. What are you most afraid of?"

Korra closed her eyes and immediately images of all her past enemies came forward. She saw Amon take away her bending. She watched as Unalaq and Vaatu ripped Raava out of her. And she screamed at the sight of the Red Lotus poisoning her. Korra screamed so loud at the pain she had thought she'd forgotten.

But then she heard Kyoshi's voice. "It's not real. You are concerned for your survival but you must surrender those fears. Let your fears flow down the creek."

Korra scrunched her face but listened to what Kyoshi said. She took a deep breath and as she watched the images of her greatest fears one more time. Those battles are over. Those enemies are gone. They couldn't hurt her anymore. And just like that, she breathed out and let the fear go. She opened her eyes and somehow a weight lifted from her.

Kyoshi smiled. "You have opened your Earth chakra. Well done." The illusion vanished right in front of her.

Despite not having a guide, she could feel the energy of the swamp leading her to a different location. After a bit more walking, Korra found herself next to a large pond with an image of Avatar Kuruk sitting beside it. Like earlier with Kyoshi, she sat in front of him in a meditative position.

The image of Kuruk opened his eyes to look at her. "Next is the Water chakra. This chakra deals with pleasure and is blocked by guilt. Now look at all the guilt that burdens you so. What do you blame yourself for?"

Korra closed her eyes once more. Her visions showed her people being terrorized by spirit vines, people from the water tribes were at war with each other, Ba Sing Se was burning…

Her face scrunched in pain again. "All those people…they got hurt because I couldn't protect them. I couldn't do anything for them."

"Accept the reality that these things happened. Do not let them cloud and poison your energy. Forgive yourself."

Korra took a deep breath. Don't harbor the blame. Accept what happened. She did the best and she fixed the situation. She took a deep breath and let herself feel the self-forgiveness.

Another weight was removed from her shoulders as she opened her eyes. But Kuruk was no longer there. Instead, she stood up and let the swamp guide her to her next destination on the path to self-discovery and enlightenment.

She was soon lead to a large thicket of vines. High above her she could see the sun shining brightly as it gave her the strength to bend fire. This time it was Roku who sat atop the vines. She sat across from his image. "Third is the fire chakra located in the stomach. This chakra deals with willpower and is blocked by shame. What are you ashamed of? What are your biggest disappointments in yourself?"

Korra closed her eyes and thought back to when she first started airbending. Even back then she couldn't get into the spirit world. When she had the ability to, she didn't connect with her past lives. She was a spiritual failure. "How can I keep balance between humans and spirits when I can't even get in touch with my spirituality?"

"You will never find balance if you deny this part of your life. You are the avatar and therefore the most spiritual being in both the material and spirit worlds. You may not be as spiritual as the lives before you but you will find it as well. Release your disappointment and accept that this is part of you. Your spirituality will come in time."

Korra took a deep breath and released her letdowns and disappointments.

At this point, Korra was beginning to get the hang of what the swamp was trying to let her do. She trusted the feeling and so let the spirit of the swamp take her to another new location where the image of Aang was sitting, waiting for her. "The fourth chakra is located in the heart. It deals with love and is blocked by grief. Lay all your grief out in front of you."

Once again, Korra closed her eyes and visualized the grief she held in her heart. Korra saw herself back in the south pole. She was back in a wheelchair. She saw as Katara and her parents looked after her round the clock. She watched as she struggled with learning how to walk, as she ignored letters from her friends, and get angry with those who loved her and only wanted to help her. Those years in the south pole had been the worst of her life. Korra felts tears again as she felt her grief.

"You have indeed felt great pain and loss. After your fight with Zaheer you lost a part of yourself and when those you love tried to help, you pushed them away thinking yourself a burden. But those who love you were never willing to turn their backs on you. They loved you before the battle, they love you now. They have never looked down on you or saw you weak and useless as you see yourself. Their love for you has always been strong. And after seeing you build yourself back up again, after seeing your hardships, they've only grown to love you even more. Let your pain flow away."

Korra did as she was told and let the pain of her recovery flow. Instead, she let the love that she thought she didn't have or deserve anymore come back into her heart.

A new place in the swamp, a new chakra, and a different image of another one of her past lives, Korra found herself sitting in front of the image of Yangchen. "The fifth in the chain is the sound chakra located in the throat. It deals with truth and is blocked by lies, the ones we tell ourselves."

What lies did she tell herself? Korra closed her eyes and saw all her past lives sitting before her and just like when Vaatu destroyed Raava, she watched them all disappear one by one. Korra barely registered the tear falling down her face. "Aang…Roku…Kyoshi…Kuruk…Yangchen…all of my past lives. My connection to every life Raava and I have ever lived…gone. I feel like I've lost a huge part of myself."

"You think you've suffered a great loss. You're lost and you're alone. Your past lives were the only ones who knew what you're going through. But they're not gone. They're still with you. They've always been within you just like Raava has. You may feel like you've lost your connection to them, but you haven't. That is a lie you tell yourself. You've forgotten who you are and so have forgotten them. But once you've accepted all the things that have happened to you, once you've accepted who you are as the Avatar, you will again find your connection to all your past lives."

Korra took a deep breath and saw herself standing beside Aang's statue, strong and proud. She could see herself stronger than ever. As a person worthy of being the Avatar.

The vision of Yangchen smiled. "You've opened the chakra of truth."

Rather than move to a new location, Korra watched as the image of Yangchen faded and changed to the image of Wan once more. "The sixth pool of energy is the light chakra located in the center of the forehead. It deals with insight and is blocked by illusion. The world is made up of illusions. Zaheer was right in thinking that there was no separation between nations or even between humans and spirits. But his illusion of chaos was skewed. Even you hold illusions within yourself even at this very moment."

Korra was about to argue that she and Zaheer were nothing alike until it spoke back. "This image that sits before you is nothing but an illusion. A memory of yours the swamp is using to help you better understand. But you want to believe that this is your past life, that this is real." She watched as Wan faded and turned into an image that wasn't even of her past lives but of a person from her memories, Guru Pathik. "But it is only an illusion. We are all connected, Korra. Just like the roots of the swamp. Let go of all your illusions."

She did as she was told. The world was connected, both the material and spirit worlds. Everyone was the same and connected. Even if she didn't want to admit it, she and Zaheer were even the same. All one people. She took a deep breath and let go of the illusion.

Ironically enough, despite opening that chakra, the swamp illusion of guru Pathik was still in front of her. "Very good, young Avatar. Come, you have one more chakra to open."

Korra followed the illusion to a place Toph had showed her earlier, the Banyan Grove tree. "This is the most spiritual place in the entire swamp. This is where you will open your final chakra. Once you've opened this chakra, you will have complete control and awareness of all your actions."

Korra smiled. "Complete control and awareness? That's something I haven't had in a long time." It was true. She hadn't felt complete control of herself since before she was poisoned. She was ready. She wanted it back so bad.

"Be warned, when avatar Aang first tried opening his chakras, he almost completely blocked it by his refusal to let go of his attachments."

Korra had lost almost everything. She needed something for herself back. It didn't matter the cost anymore. "Let's do this."

"The thought chakra is located at the crown of the head. It deals with pure cosmic energy and is blocked by earthly attachment. Meditate on what attaches you to this world."

Korra closed her eyes and saw her father holding her after her poisoning, her mother giving her comfort and advice, training with Tenzin and his kids, every moment she ever spent with Mako, Bolin, and Asami...all her friends and family…

"Now let all of those attachments go...let them flow down the river forgotten…"

This was where Avatar Aang resisted. Her family, her friends, everyone and everything she ever loved and held dear…could she let it go?

Korra took a deep breath. She needed this. Korra will always love them...but she needed to let them go. And so she did. Down the creek flowed her earthly attachments.

She opened her eyes and found herself on the path of pure cosmic energy just like when she first meditated inside the tree of time. And just like then, she saw a gigantic version of herself floating and holding a sphere of cosmic energy. Korra followed the path knowing that it had never strayed her before.

And once she made it...her eyes opened wide and glowing. She was in the avatar state. For the first time in about three years, she was once again in the Avatar State. Korra could feel the power coursing through her. Water, earth, fire, and air...the elements bent to her will.

As Korra calmed, she felt another familiar, comforting sensation go through her. "Raava, I missed you. Where have you been?"

"I have always been inside of you." She replied. "We all have…" As she said that, all of Korra's past lives appeared before her from Aang all the way to Wan. As if they were there all along. And Korra knew this wasn't just a trick of the swamp. She finally found her connection. She just had to look deep inside herself. "Well done, Avatar Korra. We are bonded forever. We are one…"

 _All the wisdom to lead_  
 _All the courage that you need_  
 _You will find when you see_  
 _We are one_


End file.
